The Founding of the Society of Saint Pius X
Offertory
"Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication."
(Psalm 129:1-2, Douay-Rheims)
Summary
- The Liturgical Context
- Historical Background of the Society of St. Pius X
- The Declaration of 1974
- Archbishop Lefebvre's Mission and Struggles
- The Role of the Society Today
- Call to Persevere and Trust in God
- Conclusion and Call to Action
The Liturgical Context
November 1st, 1970, Archbishop of Faith, with the blessing of a Bishop of Fribourg, Switzerland, constructed the Society of St Pius the 10th as an official ecclesiastical entity. The Society's Pius 10th came into existence November 1st, 1970. Such an important day for the history of the church. But when it came into existence, Archbishop Lefebvre was not looking forward to become what it is now. One said what he was looking for was just simply a little organization that was going to maintain throughout all the chaos of the church, was going to maintain the traditional way of training priests and a sort of refuge for priests who were in the confusion of their times. That was all he had envisioned.
Historical Background of the Society of St. Pius X
But because in the very few, in the four short years, he had gained quite a following, going from six seminarians who had just come to him and asked from his help in 1969 to now, they had 80 seminarians. They had more than a dozen priests. They had just opened a new district in the United States with a new seminary in the United States with just a few seminarians. They had they were growing and they were they were doing well. Meanwhile, the rest of the church, there was absolute chaos, reigning priests leaving by the droves, religious houses closing permanently and just utter pandemonium.
The Declaration of 1974
And throughout all that pandemonium and all that loss of order and and structure in the church, Rome, Rome, fixated upon the so-called Wildcat Seminary, which was doing something so rebellious and so out of control like saying the traditional mass. And so, of course, Rome reached out to Archbishop Lefebvre, demanded an explanation. Didn't like the explanation that was given. And so in 1990, in 1974, the Rome sent two cardinal visitors to investigate the seminary in a cone, and the leadership of the society said Pius attempts to determine if this was a good thing for the church or not. While they were there, the Cardinals were impressed with everything they saw, and when they went back and wrote their report to Rome, they said that 99% of what they saw at the seminary was perfect.
Archbishop Lefebvre's Mission and Struggles
But there was 1% that they didn't like, and that was the traditional mass. So Archbishop Lefebvre was infuriated just by the fact that they only gave 1% of the mass, the most important possible thing and the essence of the entire priesthood, which is what we were doing, what he was doing in a column. So he was frustrated by that. And then he had seminarians come and tell him what the cardinal visitors had told them, scandalous things like they were they were talking about the new revolutions that were going to occur because of because of Vatican two. And in the name of Vatican two, they were going to investigate the possibility of married priests and women priests. They were going to investigate the possibility of democratizing the church, making the papacy less essential and less all the power. The church less centralized. Sound familiar to anyone? That is exactly what is going on today.
The Role of the Society Today
So he is these cardinals were already talking about it back in 1974. This was their plan. This is what they were shooting for. He was so infuriated that they had scandalized his seminarians this way that he admitted it was somewhat of a righteous fury. He sat down and wrote a declaration. It was supposed to be an internal document that was going to be read only to the seminarians. So their next their next spiritual the spiritual talk that he gave three times a week, he sat them all down and he read this document to them. That was exactly 50 years ago today, November 24th, 1974. And from that moment on, the world changed quite literally, quite literally at that moment, the world, the history of the world shifted just because of this one simple action. I'll read it now to you in honor of its 50th anniversary.
Call to Persevere and Trust in God
We hold fast with all our heart and with all our soul. To Catholic Rome, guardian of the Catholic faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith to eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and truth. We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo modernist and neo Protestant tendencies, which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and after the Council and the reforms which issued from it. All these reforms indeed have contributed and are and are still contributing to the destruction of the church, to the ruin of the priesthood, to the abolition of the sacrifice of the mass, and to the sacraments, to the disappearance of religious life, to a naturalist entail hardy in teaching in universities, seminaries and catechetical teaching derived from liberalism and Protestantism, many times condemned by the solemn magisterium of the church.
Conclusion and Call to Action
No authority, not even the highest in the hierarchy, can force us to abandon or diminish our Catholic faith so clearly expressed and professed by the Church's magisterium for 19 centuries. But though we as a Saint Paul or an angel from Heaven, preach the Gospel to you, besides that which we have preached to you let him be anathema. Is it not that the Holy Father is or is not this that the Holy Father is repeating to us today? If we can discern a certain contradiction in his words and deeds as well as in those of the de castries. Well, we choose what was always taught and we turn a deaf ear to the novelties destroying the church.
Summary
The text reflects on the enduring faith and courage of Archbishop Lefebvre amid the challenges faced by the Catholic Church, particularly during and after the Second Vatican Council. It outlines the establishment of the Society of St. Pius X as a bastion of traditional Catholicism, amidst a backdrop of perceived ecclesiastical chaos and doctrinal changes. Lefebvre's steadfastness in upholding the traditional Mass, despite strong opposition from the Church hierarchy, is portrayed as a monumental effort to preserve the faith's core values and teachings.
Furthermore, the piece emphasizes the continued relevance and importance of the Society's mission in today's world, encouraging believers to remain faithful and resolute. It calls for perseverance in spreading the traditional teachings and values of the Catholic Church, positioning the Society as a rallying point for those dedicated to upholding longstanding religious traditions and resisting modern reforms perceived as contrary to Catholic doctrine. The overarching message is one of trust in God's providence and unwavering commitment to the faith.